Adam Posen, former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, and now president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, called Yellen “battle tested” and committed to fighting inflation if necessary.

In contrast, Wall Street economists took the news of Yellen’s confirmation relatively calmly.

“We do not expect the change in Fed chair to alter the course of Fed policy,” said Michael Gapen, economist at Barclays.

He said the Fed would continue to taper its $75 billion-a-month bond purchases by $10 billion at each of the next six policy committee meetings this year before ending it in October with a final $15 billion step down.

Many said the road ahead for Yellen will be perilous.

“She has to transition from crisis mode to normal policy and that will be tricky,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc..